Sliver coiler



R. D. CARMICHAEL SLIVER COILER July 16, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March '29, 1954 FIG! INVENTOR ROBE RT D. CARMICHAEL QM W1 W I ATTOR NE Y y 1957 R. D. CARMICHAEL 2,799,056

' SLIVER COILER Filed March 29, 195A 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 44 39 36 37 I 34\ 1Q P4920 i 5 l W E 18 I7 I I LU:

I 1' l 5 l/ 3 l I I9 I 4 INVENTOR ROBERT D.C MICHAEL WW BYW%% ATTORNEY United States Patent C) SLIVER COILER Robert D. Carmichael, Hampton, Ga., assignor to Southern States Equipment Corporation, a corporation of Georgia Application March 29, 1954, Serial No. 419,445 Claims. 01. 19-159 This invention relates to sliver coilers and more particularly to a coiler in which the cooperating rolls for imparting movement to the sliver are uncoupled from their motivating means in response to an abnormal accumulation of fiber in the region intermediate the rolls.

In one known type of coiler in which motivating means is coupled with a driving roll to impart operating movement thereto and a driven roll is operated from the driving roll, means are provided for uncoupling the driven roll from the driving roll when an excessive amount of fiber in the form of nubs or laps accumulates between the two rolls. While such an arrangement causes the flow of sliver into the sliver can to cease, it allows the incoming sliver to continue to enter the coiler headeven after the driving roll is uncoupled from the driven roll. For this reason there is no visible indication of the fact that the coiler is congested and as a result the condition ordinarily persists until the accumulation of fiber on and around the driving roll is so great as to become noticeably noisy. When such a condition is reached it is likely that the parts will have been permanently damaged or at best a major fiber removing operation is required.

A principal object of this invention is to provide an improved sliver coiler in which both the driving and driven rolls cease to operate when a congested condition develops.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an improved sliver coiler which causes the sliver to accumulate outside the coiler head and can when the coiler head becomes congested so as to afford a visible indication of the congested condition.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved textile sliver coiler head in which permanent damage to the parts is prevented whenever the coiler head becomes congested and which requires a minimum of maintenance and repair.

The invention in one form comprises rotatable motivating means, a driving roll normally coupled with the motivating means, and a driven roll normally coupled with the driving roll. According to a feature of the invention the driving roll is movable to a position of disengagement from the motivating means in response to an accumulation of an abnormal amount of sliver fiber in the region intermediate the rolls thereby to cause both rolls to cease rotating.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be had to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a side view of a coiler showing the coiler can, the stand and coiler head; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional front view of a coiler head embodying the invention; Fig. 2A is an enlarged detailed view of a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 3 is a plan view partially in section of a coiler head embodying the invention; and in which Fig. 4 is a side View in section of a coiler head embodying the invention. Fig. 4 is taken along the line 4--4 of Fig. 3 While Fig. 3 is taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 4 and Fig.2 is a view taken along the line 2-2 as indicated in Fig. 4.

With reference to Fig. l the numeral 1 indicates a base 2,799,056 Patented. July 16, 1957 ICC element on which the sliver. receiving can 2 is positioned and to which is bolted the stand element 3 by means of bolts 4. Secured atop the stand 3 is the coiler head generally designated by the numeral 5 and, as is well understood in the art, a suitable driving mechanism is mounted within the stand 3 and is arranged to impart rotary motion to the plate 6 thereby to rotate the can 2. about its vertical axis. Furthermore, suitable driving mechanism housed within the stand 3 imparts motivating force to the elements comprising the coiler head 5. Mounted atop the coiler head 5 is a sliver tube 7 having apertures 7a through which the sliver is fed into the head where the motion of the parts together with the rotation of can 2 imparts a coiling action to the sliver so as to deposit the sliver in the can 2 in a predetermined fashion as is well known in the art.

As can be seen from Fig. 2, the coiler head 5 comprises an annular base portion 8 which is secured by welding or other suitable means to the stand 3. As can best be seen in Fig. 3, the cover 9 is hingedly mounted by the hinge pin 10 to the annular plate 8. As can best be seen from Figures 2 and 3 the portion 9a of the cover 9 is in the form of a closure member or door pivoted by the pins 9b to the cover 9. As can best be seen from Fig. 2 the pins 9b are constructed of two parts with a biasing element arranged to maintain the extremities of the pivot 9b in position within the slots 9d formed in the cover 9. As can best be seen in Fig. 3 the door 9a is provided with a pair of handles 9e. Outward movement of pins 9b is limited by stops 9f in the form of grommets which may be secured in position within the openings in cover 9 by a pressed fit. From Fig. 2 it will be understood that since the outer end portions of pins 9b are rounded, a sufliciently heavy force can be applied to one of the handles 9e to cause the adjacent pivot pins 9b to move out of the sockets 9d and inwardly relative to grommets 9 to release the door 9a at one set of pins 9b thereby to cause the door to hinge about the other pivot pins 9b. Thus it will be understood that the pivot pins 9b constitute releasable hinge devices which are arranged so that the door 9a can be hinged from either side and uncoupled at the other. For this reason the coiler can be applied in a wire variety of installations and is adaptable to accommodate unusual space requirements. As can best be seen from Fig. 2 the sliver tube 7 is mounted within a bracket 11 secured by bolt 12 to the cover 9. From Figures 2 and 4 it is apparent that the cover 9 supports the trumpet 13 which together with the fixed gear 14 is secured in position on the cover 9 by means of the locknut 15.

The coiling apparatus secured within the head 5 is best shown in Figures 2-4 and comprises a rotatable base plate 16 which is slidably mounted in the aperture formed within the annular plate 8 and which is provided with teeth 17 arranged to cooperate with the teeth of pinion 18 driven by a vertical shaft 19 as is best shown in Fig. 4. Secured to the base plate 16 as by the bolts 20 is a pedestal 21. Rotatably mounted on the pedestal 21 is a pair of pinions 22 and- 23. Thus rotation of the rotatable plate 16 causes the pinion 22 to ride about the toothed surface of the fixed gear 14 thereby causing the pinion 23 to rotate. Pinions 22 and 23 and parts associated therewith comprise the motivating means for head 5. Normally coupled with the pinion 23 is a driving roll 24 which is rotatable with the shaft 25 to which is secured the pinion 26; shaft 25 is rotatable within a bracket 27- which is pivoted by the pin 28 to a pair of upright ears 29 formed integrally with the base plate 16. Secured to and rotatable with the driving roll 24 and the shaft 25 is a pinion 30 which normally meshes with driven roll 33. Shaft 32 is rotatably mounted on the bracket 34 which is pivotally mounted to the base 16 by the pin 35. Thus pinions 30 and 31, rolls 24 and 33, together with shafts 25 and 32 and their associated brackets respectively comprise driving and driven elements of the head. As can best be seen from Figures 3 and 4 the brackets 27 and 34 are respectively provided with upstanding portions 27a and 34a which are provided with openings in which the plunger 36 is mounted. Plunger 36 is provided with a washer element 37 secured to one end and a knurled manually adjustable nut 38 which is threadedly mounted on the other extremity of the plunger 36. Compression springs 39 and 40 are disposed near the ends of the plunger 36 and bear against the upstanding portions 27a and 34a of the brackets 27 and 34 respectively. From the description above it will be understood that the compression springs 39 and 40 together with the parts associated therewith constitute a biasing means for normally maintaining the rolls 24 and 33 together with the pinions and 31 in operative engagement with each other. Thus a sliver fed through the silver guide 7, the trumpet 13 and intermediate the rolls 24 and 33 is drawn into the head and is caused to move downwardly through an opening formed within the base plate 16 immediately below the rolls 24 and 33. Since the can 2 is rotating about its vertical axis and since the plate 16 is also rotating the sliver fed into the can is caused to assume a predetermined pattern.

For the purpose of guiding the sliver from the trumpet 13 to the space intermediate the rolls 24 and 33 and also to prevent the sliver from becoming entangled with the vvarious gears such as 30 and 31, a sliver guide 42 is mounted by bolt 43 to the base plate 16. As can best be seen from Fig. 3, the sliver guide 42 is provided with an opening 42:: through which the sliver is caused to move.

Should nubs or laps formed in the sliver cause the fiber to accumulate about the rolls 24 and 33 to an abnormal degree, the rolls will be moved away from each other against the bias of springs 39 and 40. According to a feature of the invention, I arrange to limit the movement of the roll 33 to a pre-determined distance by the simple expedient of mounting a stop element 44 to the base 16 by means of a bolt 45. Thus pre-determined movement of roll 33 in a direction away from roll 24 causes the bracket 34 to engage the stop 44 thereby to arrest the outward movement of bracket 34 and roll 33. Continued accumulation of an excessive amount of fiber in the space intermediate the rolls 24 and 33 causes the roll 24, the shaft 25, and the bracket 27 to move in a direction away from roll 33 and bracket 34. Since the pinion 26 is securely mounted on the shaft 25, pinion 26 becomes uncoupled from the motivating means comprising gear 23 thereby to arrest rotating movement of both the rolls 24 and 33. Thereafter, the entering sliver is no longer drawn into the head 5 but is allowed to accumulate outside the coiler head on the floor and in so doing affords a visible indication to the operator that the coiler head is congested. Obviously with motion of most of the parts arrested, no damage can be done to the various components. Since a visible indication of the congested condition is afforded, the situation can promptly be corrected before damage has occurred and before the congested condition has become exaggerated. Ready access to the coiling parts is to be had since the door element 9a can be readily swung open or even removed entirely from the pivots 9b. If desired the cover 9 can be hingedly swung about the hinge pin 10. Thus the operator can readily remove any congested fiber in the region of the rolls 24 and 33.

While I have described and shown a particular embodiment of the invention I do not wish to be limited thereto and intend in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention,

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A sliver coiler comprising motivating means, a first roll normally movable in coordination with movement of said motivating means and movable relative thereto to a position of disengagement therefrom, and a second roll normally disposed in proximity to said first roll and movable relative thereto to a position more remote from. said first roll, said first roll being movable in a direction away from said second roll to its position of disengagement from said motivating means and said second roll being movable in a direction away from said first roll in response to an abnormal accumulation of sliver fiber in the region intermediate said rolls.

2. A sliver coiler comprising motivating means, a first roll normally movable in coordination with movement of said motivating means and movable relative thereto to a position of disengagement therefrom, a second roll normally disposed in proximity to said first roll and movable relative thereto to a position more remote from said first roll, and yieldable biasing means tending to maintain said rolls in their normal positions, said first roll being movable in a direction away from said second roll to its position of disengagement from said motivating means and said second roll being movable in a direction away from said first roll in response to an abnormal accumulation of sliver fiber in the region intermediate said rolls.

3. A sliver coiler comprising motivating means, a first roll normally movable in coordination with movement of said motivating means and movable relative thereto to a position of disengagement therefrom, a second roll normally disposed in proximity to said first roll and movable relative thereto to a position more remote from said first roll, stop means for limiting the movement of said second roll in a direction away from said first roll, said rolls being movable away from each other in response to an abnormal accumulation of sliver fiber therebetween to cause said second roll to engage said stop means and thereafter to cause said first roll to disengage said motivating means.

4. A sliver coiler comprising motivating means, a first roll normally movable in coordination with movement of said motivating means and movable relative thereto to a position of disengagement therefrom, a second roll normally disposed .in proximity to said first roll and movable relative thereto to a position more remote from said first roll, stop means for limiting the movement of second roll in a direction away from said first roll, and biasing means tending to maintain said rolls in their normal positions, said rolls being movable away from each other in response to an abnormal accumulation of silver fiber therebetween to cause said second roll to engage said stop means and thereafter to cause said first roll to disengage said motivating means.

5. A sliver coiler comprising a rotatable base plate, a pair of brackets pivotally mounted on said base plate and movable relative to each other, a driving roll rotatably mounted on one of said brackets, motivating means normally related operably with said driving roll for rotating said driving roll, a driven roll rotatably mounted on the other of said brackets, and gear means movable with each of said rolls and cooperating to impart rotary movement to said driven roll in response to rotation of said driving roll, said driving roll and its associated bracket being movable in a direction away from said driven roll and associated bracket to a position of disengagement from said motivating means in response to the accumulation of an abnormal thickness of sliver between said rolls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 432,132 Francis July 15, 1890 572,433 Meats et al Dec. 1, 1896 737,268 Owen Aug. 25, 1903 

